


Set My Desire

by bbluejoseph



Series: The Joshua Tree [5]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: DEMA (Twenty One Pilots), Established Relationship, Flirting????, M/M, Sharing Clothes, Swimming, casual affection, trench, what is flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 11:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21457618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbluejoseph/pseuds/bbluejoseph
Summary: They splashed at one another in the shallows, dove together in the deep.
Relationships: Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph
Series: The Joshua Tree [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1487714
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Set My Desire

**Author's Note:**

> requested by anon, here’s some fluff with casual affection and the “are you wearing my shirt?” prompt. I got to thinking about how, in rough times, it’s the good memories that get us through. perhaps we don’t think about the specifics of that better time, but we do remember there is a chance for things to be better again, and we push through to reach that. I noted that in the past few fics in this series (I mean look at bio, that was a whole mess), tyler and josh have been through quite a lot, and I want to give them just one good day to hold onto.
> 
> tldr; they go swimming and have a good time. enjoy! 
> 
> this takes place about two months after the end of bio. title from trip through your wires by u2; would absolutely recommend listening while reading this

A warm breeze tugged at Tyler’s shirt as it moved through Trench. He pushed through the tall grass, following along behind Josh as the latter led the way to a place Tyler hadn’t been before.

The banditos had been through quite a lot lately. Their numbers had increased by nearly half, and more people were still trickling out of Nico’s district as conditions became worse there. The camp had to be expanded to fit all of these new people, and they had to be shown how to survive and function without the bishops ‘protection’.

Truly, Tyler and Josh were exhausted. Tyler had been on a few missions to the city, though he mostly worked in camp, setting up tents and cooking food, while Josh led most of the raids on the districts. The bishops had more guards up, making it harder to get in and out, and the citizens that did manage to escape were often terrified, sometimes physically injured.

One evening, after a long day, Tyler and Josh sat together by the fire, too worn out to do much but slowly eat the food Clancy brought them. Tyler had spent the day mending a massive pile of torn clothing, while Josh had carried an injured bandito all the way back from Dema to Trench. They were both exhausted. 

“We should take a day,” Josh said finally, setting down his empty can of provisions. 

Tyler chewed his food slowly, swallowing before speaking. “What?”

“Take a day. A break. We’re allowed to take breaks, y’know, this isn’t Dema,” Josh half joked. “We could take it tomorrow.”

“We should start by sleeping in.” Tyler smiled, worn, and Josh agreed.

Sleep in they did. The next morning, when the sun rose, neither of them rose with it. The two simply laid together in bed, dozing and snuggling until it became too hot to stay smothered beneath all their blankets. It had been particularly warm in Trench the past few days, and many of the banditos had opted out of wearing their jackets while the sun was up.

Josh got up first, pressing a kiss to Tyler’s nose before dressing and leaving the tent. Still a bit groggy, Tyler himself got up and put on a t-shirt he’d traded a bandito for, a dark gray one with yellow stitching. 

Pushing aside the tent flap revealed that it was nearly midday. Tyler sat with Clancy for a bit, eating, when Josh finally appeared, sitting next to him and stealing one of his crackers. Tyler pretended to scowl.

“Care to go swimming with me?” Josh asked, getting straight to the point.

Tyler blinked. “Swimming?”

“Yeah. There’s a great place downstream where Mark and Brad and I go sometimes.”

He hesitated at first, but he knew he didn’t have the heart to tell Josh that he had never swam before. He was looking at him with those big, excited eyes of his and he didn’t want to say no. How hard could it be, anyway? And so, he had agreed.

Thirty minutes later, they set off, walking through Trench together, holding hands and only letting go when the path became too narrow for them to walk side by side. The warm breeze made Tyler begin to anticipate the cool water Josh had talked about, and he hoped they would get there soon. Mark and Brad, Josh had told him, would be joining them later.

The two banditos pushed through a final large clump of grass before arriving at last at the swimming beach. The term ‘beach’ was a bit generous, seeing as the stretch of sand was rather small, and only along one shore. Still, Josh had been honest when he’d said the water was still there; it seemed deeper, but calmer, almost like a lake. The trees growing on the other side of the shore were tall, branches hanging over the water and casting some shade on the water. 

Tyler had been so caught up in the scene that he jumped when he saw Josh’s shirt tossed onto the sand. Josh himself was also taking off his pants, much to Tyler’s embarrassment. He covered his eyes with his hands. “You’re swimming naked?”

He heard Josh’s laugh. “No, I’m wearing boxers, silly.” There was silence, and then some quiet splashing. Tyler peeked between his fingers.

Josh was standing in the water up to his knees, arms wrapped around his torso. He looked back at Tyler, smiling. “It’s a little chilly, but we’ll warm up to it.”

He took off his shoes and socks, leaving them by Josh’s shirt, and carefully stepped across the cool sand to dip his foot in the water. It was cold, but he waded in a little bit, standing there with the water up to his ankles, and his pants rolled up to his knees.

Josh, he noted, had a sprinkling of freckles down his back and across his shoulders. 

Perhaps he would have tried to reach out and touch them, but Josh quickly moved forward into the deeper water, submerging himself and then coming back up almost as quickly as he went under. “It feels great!” he gasped, although based on how pale he looked, and the goosebumps sprinkled across his arms, he wasn’t being entirely honest.

Tyler considered the water. He then considered his clothes; his t-shirt and pants. “I don’t know how to swim.”

Josh’s damp curls clung to his forehead, making it difficult for Tyler to concentrate on what he was saying. “You probably do, from before Dema. Not a lot of opportunities in the city to test it out. And if you don’t,” he added, a bit more serious, “I’ll teach you.”

He hesitated just a moment longer, then turned away and took off his t-shirt. It wasn’t that he was self conscious of his body, necessarily, or hated it. It just made him a little nervous, was all. 

Tyler knew, though, that he could trust Josh, and so he quickly kicked off his pants and waded in up to his knees. 

The water lapped at his legs, gentle but cold. He stepped a little closer, bit by bit going deeper into the water. Josh didn’t say a word, just waited patiently until the water finally reached Tyler’s chin, and his feet could barely stand on the bottom.

Josh was swimming just a few feet away, treading water. “Try and swim out to me, and I’ll catch you.”

“Catch me?” Tyler said doubtfully. The bandito nodded. 

He waited just a moment longer, then, and stepped off the small ledge beneath his feet. Tyler’s head ducked beneath the water for just a moment, chilling him further, but then he started paddling, and was able to easily get to the surface on his own. He shook his head to shake some of the water out of his hair, and Josh laughed, gently but firmly gripping his arm. 

“I guess I can swim,” Tyler said, bashfully. 

Josh darted forward to kiss his nose. “I guess you can.”

The two swam peacefully for quite some time in the swimming hole. With a little practice, Tyler grew fond of holding his breath and ducking underwater. Everything looked different from there, soft and a little murky. Diving to the bottom of the swimming hole was fun, and Tyler got a thrill every time he swam down to touch the pebbles deep below. 

There was a certain peace to the water. Tyler liked the silence of it, the way it felt against his skin. He liked how it let him move as easily as air did. 

He liked being here with Josh, too. He liked the way the water clung to his curls, and the way the droplets rolled off his shoulders when he floated on the surface. 

They splashed at one another in the shallows, dove together in the deep. Josh looked beautiful underwater, flowing and moving as smoothly as the creek did. Tyler couldn’t take his eyes off him.

After some time, Tyler grew cold, and chose to sunbathe on the larger rocks edging the deeper water. Josh continued to dive, however, occasionally bringing up a small, pretty stone for Tyler to admire.

The sun was still warm, even as it was gradually going down, and Tyler quickly dried in its rays. He felt quite comfortable there, but just as he felt his eyes closing he heard a shout from the trailhead. 

Mark and Brad were rushing towards the water, pulling their shirts and pants off eagerly before diving straight into the deep water. Tyler stifled a laugh as the wave from their combined jump splashed Josh in the face. 

“Thanks for the warning, guys, never would have known you were here,” Josh said dryly. Tyler couldn’t help giggling. 

The peace by the creek was now changed to the shouts of the boys as they got in water fights, splashing one another with their hands and doing ridiculous dives from the short cliffs on the other shore. Tyler didn’t mind; it was a good sound, full of life and laughter and joy. He felt happy just watching them. 

After a while, the sunlight began to change to a honey gold, and the breeze changed from warm to cold. Josh got out of the water first, ruffling his hair with his hand to try to get the water out. He frowned when he noticed his shirt was missing, but his eyes quickly flew to Tyler. “You’re wearing my shirt.”

“You look better without one,” Tyler said automatically. His face immediately flushed, and Brad and Mark both giggled from the water. 

Josh tilted his head, grinning widely, cheeks red. “Is that so? I think I can wait ‘til we get back to camp, then.” 

Mark wolf-whistled, and Josh good-naturedly flipped him off.

The walk back was brisk, but rife with smiles. Tyler and Josh walked just a bit behind the others, fingers intertwined. Tyler mostly kept his eyes on the ground; he was still embarrassed that he had said what he was thinking out loud.

“For the record,” Josh said finally, “you do look amazing in my shirt.”

Tyler looked back up at him, just for a second, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Better take it more often, then.”

Josh squeezed his hand, and they both grinned.


End file.
